At the edge of the pit, Saha stared down at the bottom, which was densely packed with stark white skulls, his expression rather grim.
He hadn't expected his luck to be this bad either.
Muttering a low curse, he glanced back at the two people standing not far away, waiting for him to take the lead in the "challenge." Gritting his teeth, he pushed off the ground and jumped down.
He had wanted to wait for others to test the waters first, but instead, he was forced to become the first pawn to step on the mine.
Though unwilling, he still maintained a high level of alertness upon landing, struggling to steady himself amidst the pile of skulls.
Even though Saha prided himself on being experienced, he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine at this moment.
The skulls were too densely packed, clattering against each other with a fine, crisp sound, making him afraid to move carelessly.
Who knew what stepping on and crushing them might attract?
Carefully lying down on his back, Saha made his breathing long and shallow, while the muscles throughout his body tensed like a fully drawn bowstring.
He was prepared to erupt into action at any moment to deal with a sudden change.
Above, Yurien and Ichimura Kota did not let their guard down either.
At some point, a beautifully crafted silver coin had appeared between Yurien's fingers, nimbly weaving through his knuckles with his movements.
Ichimura Kota glanced subtly at the coin being toyed with, his left hand also quietly slipping into the inner pocket of his suit.
Both men stared intently at the black player who was the first to begin the "challenge."
One minute, two minutes...
Time passed slowly.
Suddenly, they saw the black player, as if seeing something utterly unbelievable, begin to convulse violently. Like a fish thrown onto the shore, he thrashed wildly within the pile of skulls.
However, it was as if he was restrained by something. No matter how he struggled, he couldn't get up, only staring with wide, bulging eyes.
Yurien gripped the silver coin in shock. The originally cool touch now felt scalding hot, as if it would burn through his palm.
Noticing his unusual expression, Ichimura Kota immediately asked, "What is it?"
Yurien shook his head, his tone unprecedentedly serious. "The coin is wailing... I've never seen it so terrified."
He looked at Saha's face, which was contorted as if he were suffocating, and the bulging veins at his temples, and said slowly:
"This challenge... I'm afraid we cannot complete it."
"Call the show team."
——
The front hall.
The remaining six players stood silently to the side, watching the medical personnel come and go, carrying stretchers.
"These two contestants have also fallen into a coma and cannot continue the competition," the medical team leader announced casually after examining Polina and Saha's condition. "Eliminated."
As the medical personnel left once more, the previous commotion cooled down.
Six pairs of eyes met in the stagnant atmosphere, each seeing the shock and doubt in the others' gazes.
"Alright, everyone. I think at this point, we should all be frank," Winifred clapped his hands. "How serious the current situation is should be clear to everyone."
Out of a total of eleven players, it was only the first day. Excluding the two who withdrew, only six remained.
And they still hadn't even figured out the specific elimination rules of this instance.
"Let's share what each team encountered," Daisy rubbed her temples. "If this continues, we'll all be finished here."
Gessalin and Kuxia exchanged a glance. "We'll go first."
——
Monitoring room.
When the slovenly man announced the start of the challenge over the broadcast, Xu Xi focused intently on the screen.
The instance had finally entered a critical stage.
Although his perspective was missing some crucial information, it wasn't completely useless.
However, after seeing the player in the leather jacket nearly drown in a shallow pool, the conspicuously dark-skinned player convulsing wildly in the skull pile as if having an epileptic fit, and the bearded man dodging and weaving in a small torture chamber, Xu Xi fell silent for a moment before he couldn't help but click his tongue.
Damn it all, what is actually inside?
"Where's the medical team? Get them in there to check!"
"Hey, how could someone not be able to stand up in such a small pool?"
"What on earth is there that's making the contestants react so strongly?"
"I told you it must be haunted..."
Ignoring these noisy discussions, Buriman quickly walked over and sat down next to Xu Xi.
"Please forgive me for disturbing you again, but I have some things I'd like to talk to you about."
He deliberately lowered his voice, his tone full of a tempting allure. "Hey, if I may say, in our current... special situation, perhaps I can boldly suggest that we seem to be in a... let's call it a mutually dependent predicament?"
Xu Xi had been curious about what the brown-haired, blue-eyed young man wanted with him again, but hearing this, he understood instantly.
"You want to cooperate?" Xu Xi's gaze lingered on the other's seemingly sincere face for a moment.
Buriman nodded slightly. "My dear friend, I know this kind of relationship seems dangerous in this instance, but clearly, it seems loners don't last long here. I think you should be aware of that."
"Oh, I refuse," Xu Xi said without hesitation.
"?" Buriman's composed smile froze on his face. His blue pupils contracted slightly, flashing with a trace of unexpected astonishment.
He clearly hadn't anticipated such a straightforward refusal. In any instance fraught with danger and exceeding difficulty, cooperation was almost the default survival rule for all surviving players.
"Friend," Buriman quickly adjusted his expression, his tone taking on a persuasive and earnest note. "Please reconsider. I know you're wary of me, which is normal. But please believe me, cooperation would benefit us both."
"Not interested," Xu Xi truly wasn't interested.
Regardless of how much sincerity was in the other's words, in this run, he was practically guaranteed to die.
Whether the other guy would die or not, he didn't know. But if he died, that was the end of this run for him. So, there was simply no need to bother with any troublesome cooperation.
Of course, if he discovered upon dying that this instance truly required cooperation to clear, then he'd consider it in the next run.
Completely unaware of Xu Xi's thoughts, a crack finally appeared in Buriman's smile.
He was silent for two seconds. When he spoke again, the superficial affability in his voice had vanished completely. "Aren't you curious?"
"Aren't you curious about what exactly they encountered?"
Xu Xi asked back in confusion, "So, you know?"
"..." Buriman's previous air of ease was gone. "No, I don't."
He saw the emotion in the East Asian young man's eyes opposite him, which seemed to say, "If you don't know, then why bring it up?"
Taking a deep breath, Buriman stood up. "Friend, if you change your mind, you're welcome to come find me."
After saying that, he turned and walked towards the exit of the monitoring room.
The players' first round of challenges had ended. Taking advantage of this lull, he was going to observe those "eliminated" players.
After a couple of steps, he turned back and said in a low voice, "Your trump card might let you survive tonight, or even tomorrow night. But trump cards always run out eventually."
Buriman had taken Xu Xi's displayed confidence as him possessing an exceptionally powerful item. Otherwise, he couldn't understand why this person was so... brazenly confident.
He couldn't possibly be a lunatic who enjoys gambling with his life, could he?
Shaking his head, he strode away.
As for Xu Xi's response to this, there was none.
Trump card?
He certainly had one.
Cooldown time: None; Usage restriction: Death.
As for when it runs out?
Well, he's still alive and kicking.
